Many old-school fans of Final Fantasy have been clamoring for a return to turn-based battles. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon. Final Fantasy 16 dropped an exciting gameplay trailer early last month. It gave us a sneak peek at some of the explosive action we can expect to see in the game. Of course, turn-based battles were no were to be seen.
In an interview with Famitsu, Final Fantasy producer Naoki Yoshida spoke about the game’s battle system. Thanks to VCG‘s translation of the interview, we’ve learned that Final Fantasy 16 won’t feature turn-based battles to appeal to a younger audience.
“I’m from a generation that grew up with command and turn-based RPGs,” Yoshida said. “I think I understand how interesting and immersive it can be. On the other hand, for the past decade or so, I’ve seen quite a number of opinions saying, ‘I don’t understand the attraction of selecting commands in video games.’ This opinion is only increasing, particularly with younger audiences who do not typically play RPGs.”
Final Fantasy was purely turn-based up through Final Fantasy 10. The more action-based gameplay that came after had a lot to do with the evolution of technology available to game developers.
“For several console generations now, all character expressions can be done in real-time. Actions such as ‘press the trigger and your character will shoot a gun’ and ‘press the button and your character will swing their sword’ can now be easily expressed without going through a command system.
“It’s now common for gamers younger than me to love such games. As a result, it seems that it does not make sense to go through a command prompt, such as ‘Battle’, to make a decision during a battle.”
Yoshida clarifies that this doesn’t mean one way is “good or bad.” He mentions that their decision was made partly due to “the expected sales of Final Fantasy XVI and the impact that we have to deliver.”
Final Fantasy has seen a resurgence in popularity as of late, thanks to the success of Final Fantasy 14 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Hopefully, Final Fantasy 16 will continue to support Square Enix’s legacy of incredible games.
If you’re a Final Fantasy fan, be sure to check out our ranking of all the Final Fantasy protagonists and our ranking of all the villains. Be sure to also check out our list of the best JRPGs.
